Death of 'Pork' Armstrong saddens people in Central Illinois entertainment circles

Armstrong, leader of the band Pork & the Havana Ducks and a radio personality with WWHP-FM in Farmer City, was 55. He died Saturday."He was, in my opinion, the best entertainer Illinois has ever had," one-time bandmate Tim Wallis said. "He was also a great songwriter. We're all going to miss him very much. He was a true genius when it came to entertaining.""He was always able to transfer it to the stage and make it come off," bandmate and longtime friend Ron Stockert said.Decatur songwriter Skip Huston said, "He was a pretty talented guy. He wrote a lot of good songs."Armstrong had a program on WWHP for the past five years, and his co-workers thought it was his humor that made the show what it was."It's going to be really hard," said WWHP's Lori Allen, producer of Armstrong's program. "He was one of a kind. He was just a goof. A very talented goof.""His sense of humor was unsurpassed," WWHP general manager Larry Williams said. "His whole life was dedicated to making people laugh."Williams also knew and respected Armstrong as a musician."He was a local legend," Williams said. "Everybody knew him."Between Champaign, Bloomington and Decatur, just thinking about all the musicians who worked with him or knew him is pretty incredible. When I started playing in bands around here, if your band could be as good as Pork's, you'd be accomplishing something."The band released three albums in the 1970s and "five or six" CDs, according to Williams.Longtime bandmate Keith Anderson said the thing he'd remember most about Armstrong was "his ability to communicate with total strangers. He acted like he never knew a stranger, and people felt the same way about him."On stage," Anderson said, "he could do and say anything he wanted, and just because it was him, people were OK with it."I think he'd want to be remembered as someone who brought a lot of joy to people."Services for Armstrong will be 10 a.m. today in Calvert Funeral Home, Clinton. Burial will be in Woodlawn Cemetery, Clinton.Tim Cain can be reached at 421-6908.